Big countries are the losers of tax competition. The Tax Justice Network
(TJN, 2005) estimates that 11.5 trillion US dollars are hidden in tax
havens, indicating a yearly revenue loss for high-tax countries of about
255 billion US dollars. The ever-present threat of tax base erosion must
also be taken into consideration in the design of national tax systems.
The general trend in corporate taxation in reaction to tax competition is
a policy of ‘tax cut cum base-broadening’. While this response has been
successful insofar as on average there has been hardly any loss in general
tax revenue over the last 15 years, it negatively impacts on the structure
of national tax systems. Big and highly profitable MNEs enjoy tax relief,
while small and medium-sized companies are taxed more heavily.Also, tax
burdens are shifted from capital income to labour income and consumption
(Loretz, 2008; Schwarz, 2007). In addition, lowering nominal corporate
tax rates undermines the progressivity of personal income taxes because
corporate tax serves as a backstop for personal income tax (Ganghof,
2006).